Drums + Lights
a percussion instrument that triggers lights and projections on a street block. Presented at Nuit Blanche NYC festival.
Installation, ITP, Spring 2010 | Collaboration with Peter Esveld
A physical interface for sound, light and motion. A percussion instrument that allows a wide range of input and a virtual environment projected on the street wall. As the drum is played, variations of sound and force result in combinations of generative visual and lights.
Street blocks, especially in a city like New York, have been the place for a wide range of different visual art expressions. Drums are probably the oldest instrument in human history, and they reach to the core of people's need for self-expression and ritual. A child intuitively understand the use of a drum, and as adults we still find them irresistible.
Counting on the natural instinct to percuss things, the project plays with the sense of empowerment that we feel when we hit things, augmenting the outcome of the percussion as if it had the power to affect and physically shape the surrounding environment.
The project was presented at the first NYC Nuit Blanche (www.bringtolight.org) on October 2, 2010.
